Children's home run by Aspris Homes Limited in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC413085 1 SC413085 Registered provider: Castle Homes Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is one of a number owned by a private provider. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 13 to 14 December 2017

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 24 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people experience individualised care and are making good progress. This is significant as young people have complex needs and presenting behaviours. Inspection report children’s home: SC413085 2  Young people receive help to stay in contact with their families and other important people in their lives.  There is high importance attached to ensuring engagement with education. An education liaison worker supports all young people’s educational needs and tracks progress.  Collaborative working with professionals and parents is directly helping and supporting young people to make progress.  Leaders and managers place a high priority on keeping young people safe. Staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities in all areas of safeguarding.  Leaders and managers identify risks well from the outset. Excellent risk assessments, which are regularly updated, identify key areas of concern.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The team manages complex behaviours well and responds in a calm and consistent manner.  Staff feel supported by leaders and managers and benefit from regular supervision, good induction and yearly appraisals.  There is a good, sound management team, supported by an experienced responsible individual. The organisation is aware of its strengths and areas for development.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Although the organisation offers a comprehensive training schedule, some staff have not completed refresher training within required timescales. Scheduled dates have been set for this training and a recommendation is made to support this.  Not all young people understand the sanctions/rewards and complaints system and a recommendation is made to rethink how the staff team approaches this to ensure that all young people feel they are treated fairly.  Not all staff have completed the required level 3 diploma in the required timescales. There are valid reasons for this and no formal recommendations have been made.  The staff team has been through a difficult period, managing high-level complex needs at a time when staffing resources were stretched. The organisation is recruiting and supporting staff and no formal recommendations have been made.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 02/06/2016 Full Good 18/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/05/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC413085 3

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and staff should understand the key role that facilities and resources play in training and development in the home. This is in relation to ensuring that basic mandatory trainings are completed in a timely way. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  Ensure that staff understand that, in some instances, a child may express wishes that are not always in their best interests or which may conflict with the views of other children in the home. In such circumstances, the responsible adults will have to balance the wishes of the child against what they judge to be in the best interests of the child and reach a reasonable view about the best way forward in the interests of all. The reasons for reaching any decision will need to be carefully explained to and understood by the child or children concerned. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.9) This is specifically in relation to helping young people understand the sanctions/rewards and complaints system.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive good individual care and support, which helps them to make progress. This is influenced directly by the staff at the home and is helping them to improve in a number of areas. For example, inviting the child and adolescent mental health team (CAMHS) to staff meetings on a regular basis to discuss young people’s emotional needs and behavioural issues helps staff to understand behaviours and gives them strategies to manage and improve young people’s behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are encouraged to develop positive relationships with staff, parents, professionals and one another. All young people have individual placement plans, which they are involved in creating themselves. This includes all their basic needs, activity planning, likes and dislikes. Young people are given an individual key worker and a co- key worker when they move into the home. These workers are involved in ensuring that young people’s care is coordinated and planned. This involves regular meetings with young people to ensure that they have regular support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are making progress from their starting points. This is often slow progress due to their complex needs and their experience of significant trauma and loss in their lives. All young people are on roll in education. The home employs an educational liaison manager, to work with placing authorities, host authorities and virtual schools to ensure that suitable provision is identified. The educational liaison manager attends all school Inspection report children’s home: SC413085 4 meetings such as personal education planning and education, health and care planning. Young people currently attend various alternative provisions such as home tuition, special schools, a practical outdoor centre and a local skills centre. The liaison worker has developed excellent networks in the local area and places pressure on the virtual schools to secure resources for young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have health care plans which identify their needs and explain how these will be met, for example through routine health care or more specialist provision. Staff make sure that young people are registered with a local health centre and arrange appointments with the dentist, optician and for routine health screening to take place. Health care chronologies are kept with details of appointments and other important health information. If more specialist help is required, the staff work closely with placing authorities to ensure that the necessary referrals are made, for example to the CAMHS team. Where young people have had contact with specialist resources, assessments are available to staff to help them understand diagnosis and how to manage strategies or treatments. Staff check that dietary, religious and cultural needs are considered with the young person and that choices are given, even if young people say they are not actively

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

practising any preferences. One young person has recently joined a local church and is supported to attend.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people like living at this home. Those spoken to said they would give the home eight or nine points out of 10 (10 being the highest). They liked their key workers, and had the opportunity to decorate their bedrooms, enjoy activities and attend swimming and a trampoline centre on a regular basis. Staff know the young people well and support them in everything they do. Staff turn negative behaviour into positive by building up trust and understanding.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are expected to engage in learning during school hours and are supported to do this by staff taking them to school, training centres or tuition at the local library. Clear routines and expectations are in place to provide young people with a sense of stability. After school hours, young people attend local clubs, spend time with friends or see family members. The home is situated in a remote part of the countryside and has a large garden. There is a trampoline, a basketball net and room to kick a football with friends. Due to the isolated location of the home, staff support young people by driving them wherever they need to go.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people currently living at the home are quite young, but are starting to be supported to learn to look after themselves. For example, they are encouraged to bring their laundry down to be washed and to keep their bedrooms tidy. If young people are moving into semi-independent living, staff encourage them to learn to cook for themselves, as well as learn other self-care skills that help them to move on. This helps young people to learn life skills within a supported environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When young people live some distance from their own family and community, the staff team supports regular contact to ensure that they keep in touch. The manager and staff understand the significance of family contact, support and identity needs and promote these for young people. Staff often transport young people to contact and facilitate Inspection report children’s home: SC413085 5 direct contact, and help young people with some of the difficult feelings that direct contact can raise for them.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Risk assessment planning begins prior to young people being accepted or admitted to the home. The registered manager considers the referral information and speaks directly to the placing social worker or team leader. If further information is required, the registered manager sometimes speaks with parents and/or previous carers in addition. An impact risk assessment is completed by the manager with the staff team to consider how well matched the young person is with existing residents at the home. Although this helps to ensure a good match, on occasions not all the information is provided or it simply is not known. The registered manager explained that if a young person is not a good match, then various strategies are used to manage and keep young people safe. For example, placement stability meetings with placing authorities, clear structures for separation, activities and regular key-work sessions as well as higher staff-to-young-

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

people ratios. All these strategies help to keep young people safe until the situation settles or a planned placement move can take place.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The response to young people who go missing from the home is good. The manager and staff create an environment within the home and encourage activities after school hours to prevent young people from leaving. If they do go missing, staff follow them, try to talk to them and stop them from getting on to trains. Staff spoken to were aware of the processes to follow, to ensure that young people are reported missing and that parents and placing authorities are informed. Staff are vigilant in their daily log recording to ensure that they know what young people are wearing and they have access to clear records of friends and family contacts where they might be. One young person who had a history of being missing has remained at the home and settled. This has been down to consistent, collaborative work with a social worker from the missing-from-care team within the placing authority.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The home has had an unsettling time in recent months, with the mix of young people and their presenting needs and challenges. This inspection considered the matching of young people to existing residents because of these issues. There has been an increase in challenging behaviour within the home and subsequent notifications to the regulator. The situation has arisen because some of the young people’s presenting behaviours were not shared with the home prior to their admission. Despite the challenges, the registered manager and the staff team have managed the situation and the behaviours well.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Young people say that they feel safe, do not feel bullied in any way and know how to complain. Some young people feel that the rewards/sanctions system is unfair and that young people are treated differently at the home. Records showed that young people know how to complain and have done so. The system is working and the response to young people is appropriate and within the home’s complaints policy. The registered manager and staff team propose to consider the rewards/sanctions system with the young people to ensure that they feel it is a fair system for all. Inspection report children’s home: SC413085 6 Young people benefit from a clear safeguarding policy, which is at the centre of practice in this home. Staff spoken to understand their responsibility to safeguard young people and are aware of the home’s whistleblowing policy. They were aware of how to report concerns and work collaboratively with safeguarding partners to ensure that young

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

people are helped and protected. There have been two child protection referrals reported since the last interim inspection in January 2017. The records showed prompt and appropriate actions taken to safeguard both young people and staff. If necessary, staff are suspended without prejudice until investigations can be completed. This ensures that young people feel comfortable and safe in their own home if a potential safeguarding issue arises. There is excellent training on offer for staff including on the risks of child sexual exploitation, the risk of radicalisation and other relevant training which meets the needs of specific children.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Recruitment processes ensure appropriate checks for new staff coming to work in the home. These processes help to protect young people from exposure to unsafe people working in their home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leaders and managers at this home are consistent, established and effective. The organisation has been taken over by another company in the past 18 months; however, the changes to the administration and internal running of the home have been brought into place gradually and have therefore had minimal impact. Senior leaders remain unchanged and know the service well. The main changes are administrative and managers feel that they have had more work with new systems, but the overall running of the home remains unchanged. The registered manager has a level 5 diploma in leadership and management and a wealth of experience running residential provision. An experienced deputy manager supports the day-to-day running of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are aware of the complexity of the young people’s needs. They offer daily support to staff, particularly to new and inexperienced staff, guiding them through the day and helping them to think ahead and offer strategies to manage challenge. Leaders and managers often work alongside staff, role modelling, stepping in and giving ideas or different approaches. Leaders and managers identify when staff need a change or a break and ensure that this happens. Shift planning around activities supports staff and pre-empts likely situations at difficult times such as after school or during the evenings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they feel supported by leaders and managers. A core group of the staff have worked for the company for many years. There is a stable and consistent team of experienced and committed workers. During the past year, two staff have left and three new staff have started. This has inevitably led to a different dynamic in the staff team. The registered manager is careful to put less experienced staff on shift with more experienced team members. This helps to maintain consistency in managing behaviour and reduces incidents. On occasions, agency staff have been required but the registered manager is careful to use the same staff where possible to ensure that young people do not have to experience too many changes of staff. Inspection report children’s home: SC413085 7 There is excellent external monitoring of this home. An independent person visits the home once a month and provides a report, taking into account the views of young

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

people, parents and other professionals. These reports highlight the areas for improvement within the home. The registered manager uses them well and this helps her to improve the practice within the home. In addition, the registered manager completes her own six-monthly quality of care review. This shows her understanding of the strengths and areas for development in the running of the home. Leaders and managers have met the requirement and the two recommendations from the previous inspection. They use inspection and quality of care reports to inform practice going forward.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home provides good-quality training for staff, through both face-to-face training and online. Staff feel that the training they receive equips them to do their jobs. Some staff have not completed all the mandatory refresher training that is required annually, although dates are booked in for staff to attend in the coming months. Most of the staff have the required level 3 diploma and new staff begin this training once they have completed their induction and probation period. Some staff who have not completed the level 3 diploma yet have good reason and new completion dates are set.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that dietary, religious and cultural needs are considered with young people on admission and that choices are given, even if young people say that they are not actively practising any preferences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager encourages young people to meet together in residents’ meetings with staff support. If young people do not attend, the manager provides a one- to-one manager consultation to ensure that she is aware of young people’s views and can bring these back to the staff team to inform and advise practice.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC413085 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Castle Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Fifth Floor, 80 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Wells

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Inspector

Christine Kennet, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC413085 9 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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